Electrochemical strip and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

An electrochemical strip is disclosed. The electrochemical strip includes a substrate and an electrode deposited on the substrate. The electrode includes a conductive paste layer, a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a third metal layer, and a fourth metal layer. The conductive paste is made of a material selected from the group consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, and silver-carbon paste. The first metal layer is made of a group VIII metal. The second metal layer is made of nickel. The third metal layer is made of a group VIII metal. The fourth metal layer is made of a material selected from the group consisting of palladium, gold, and platinum.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/444,065 entitled “ELECTROCHEMICAL STRIP AND MANUFACTURINGMETHOD THEREOF” filed on Apr. 11, 2012, which is a divisional ofapplication Ser. No. 14/506,378, filed on Oct. 3, 2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrochemical strip, and moreparticularly to an electrochemical strip for bio-test.

2. Description of Related Art

The development of the mechanical and electrical technology facilitatesdetection of biological samples via electrochemical or optical methods.By employing electrochemical method, for example, blood sugar can bedetected via redox reaction that occurs when glucose in blood samplereacts with glucose oxidase (GOD) or Glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) coatedon the test strip. Specifically, an electric signal produced by redoxreaction is used to detect the content of glucose participated in theresponse, and the signal can be converted to the concentration of bloodsugar. By employing optical method, a reaction occurred between glucoseand enzyme results in changing of color in test strip, then the changeof color is detected and converted to concentration of blood sugar viacolorimetric method.

Recently, an electrochemical strip is employed increasingly. Since thestrip needs to detect an electric current signal produced by theelectrochemical reaction, the strip needs to have a conductive electrodeto receive the signal and transmit the signal to a measuring instrumentfor conversion. According to the techniques well known to those skilledin the art, the conductive electrode is usually made by plating nickel(Ni) and palladium (Pd) on a copper electrode or coating active-carbonlayer on a silver paste. However, the general cost of electro-deposingnickel and palladium on a copper electrode is high. On the other hand,there is a method to form the electrode by directly disposing an inertgroup metal such as gold, platinum, and palladium on a substrate viavapor-deposition or sputtering-deposition, and then eliminating theunnecessary part via etching to keep the necessary parts only. However,this method results in serious material consumption and highmanufacturing cost. Additionally, one may manufacture the electrode bycoating an active-carbon layer on printed silver paste circuits toreduce the cost. Nevertheless, the manufactured electrodes have worseaccuracy and stability in measurement than the electrodes made via thevapor-deposition or sputtering-deposition and which will consumes extracost in quality control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an attempt to overcome the recited defects of the existing teststrips, the present invention provides an electrochemical stripincluding a substrate and an electrode disposed on the substrate. Theelectrode includes a conductive paste layer, a first metal layer, asecond metal layer, a third metal layer, and a fourth metal layer. Thefirst metal layer is made of a group VIII metal. The second metal layeris made of nickel (Ni). The third metal layer is made of a group VIIImetal. The fourth metal layer is made of a metal selected from the groupconsisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au), and platinum (Pt).

An objective of the present invention is to provide an electrochemicalstrip including printed conductive paste and thus facilitate theproduction of a bio-test strip and effectively reduce the manufacturingcost.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd) as the material of thenickel layer, thus effectively prevents leaking of nickel (Ni) and iscontributive to the disposition of the following layers.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd), gold (Au), or platinum(Pt) as the material in the outer layer of the electrode, thuseffectively increases sensitivity and specificity of the test.

In addition, the present invention provides an electrochemical stripincluding a substrate and an electrode disposed on the substrate. Theelectrode includes a conductive paste layer, a first metal layer, asecond metal layer, a third metal layer, and a fourth metal layer. Theconductive paste layer is made of a material selected from the groupconsisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, andsilver-carbon paste. Furthermore, the conductive paste layer is printedon the substrate, and then is roughened by etching. The first metallayer, which is made of a group VIII metal, is chemically plated on theconductive paste layer. The second metal layer, which is made of nickel,is chemically plated on the first metal layer. The third metal layer,which is made of a group VIII metal, is chemically plated on the secondmetal layer. The fourth metal layer, which is made of a metal selectedfrom the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au), or platinum(Pt), is chemically plated on the third metal layer.

An objective of the present invention is to provide an electrochemicalstrip including printed conductive paste and thus facilitates theproduction of a bio-test strip and effectively reduces the manufacturingcost.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd) as the outer layermaterial of the nickel layer, thus effectively prevents leaking ofnickel (Ni) and is contributive to the disposition of the followinglayers.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd), gold (Au), or platinum(Pt) as the material in the outer layer of the electrode, thuseffectively increases sensitivity and specificity of the test.

Otherwise, the present invention provides an electrochemical stripincluding a substrate, an electrode and a carbon layer disposed on thesubstrate. The electrode includes a conductive paste layer, a firstmetal layer, a second metal layer, a third metal layer, and a fourthmetal layer. The conductive paste layer is made of a material selectedfrom the group consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste,and silver-carbon paste. In addition, the conductive paste layer and thecarbon layer are printed on the substrate sequentially, and then theconductive paste layer is roughened by etching. Regarding the electrode,the first metal layer is made of a group VIII metal and chemicallyplated on the conductive paste layer; the second metal layer is made ofnickel and chemically plated on the first metal layer; the third metallayer is made of a group VIII metal and chemically plated on the secondmetal layer; and the fourth metal layer is made of a metal selected fromthe group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au), or platinum (Pt) andchemically plated on the third metal layer.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including printed conductive paste, which ischaracterized by excellent effect of screen printing and promoting thesubsequent electrochemical plating of the electrode, therebyfacilitating the production of a bio-test strip and effectively reducingthe manufacturing cost.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including a carbon layer with good conductivityprinted partly on the conductive paste layer and displacing theinsulating layer, thus effectively reducing the use of above-mentionedmetals and achieving the purposes of lowering the manufacturing cost aswell as complying with the requirements of environmental protection.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd) as the outer layermaterial of the nickel layer, thus effectively prevents leaking ofnickel (Ni) and is contributive to the disposition of the followinglayers.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide anelectrochemical strip including palladium (Pd), gold (Au), or platinum(Pt) as the material in the outer layer of the electrode, thuseffectively increases sensitivity and specificity of the test.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of illustrative embodiments when read inconjunction with the accompanied drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram representing an electrochemical stripaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A line of FIG. 1A,showing the electrochemical strip according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram representing an electrochemical stripaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along B-B line of FIG. 2A,showing the electrochemical strip according to an example of the secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along B-B line of FIG. 2A,showing the electrochemical strip according to an another example of thesecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating steps of a manufacturing method ofan electrochemical strip according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4A is a flow chart illustrating steps of a manufacturing method ofan electrochemical strip according to one example of a second embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a flow chart illustrating steps of a manufacturing method ofan electrochemical strip according to another one example of the secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram representing an electrochemical stripaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along C-C line of FIG. 5A,showing the electrochemical strip according to the third embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5C is a flow chart illustrating steps of a manufacturing method ofan electrochemical strip according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As mentioned above, the invention provides a solution to the problemthat a typical strip for bio-test may encounter. The embodiments of theinvention will be described herein below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the electrochemical strip 1 according to a firstembodiment of the invention includes a substrate 11, an electrode 12disposed on the substrate 11, and an insulating layer 13 disposed on theelectrode 12. The material used for the substrate 11 can be bio-inertplastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC),polyimide, glass fiber or phenolic resin.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the electrode 12 includes several layers seriallystacked on the substrate 11. These layers are a conductive paste layer120, a first metal layer 121, a second metal layer 122, a third metallayer 123, and a fourth metal layer 124. The first metal layer 121, thesecond metal layer 122, the third metal layer 123, and the fourth metallayer 124 are disposed via chemical plating.

The conductive paste layer 120 is a layer disposed on the substrate 11via printing and is made of a material selected from the groupconsisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, andsilver-carbon paste. Furthermore, the substrate 11 with the conductivepaste layer 120 is etched by using plasma to eliminate the debris of theconductive paste layer 120 after the conductive paste layer 120 isprinted on the substrate 11, and then the surface of the conductivepaste layer 120 is activated by acid-washing.

Etching and acid-washing mentioned above are contributive to thefollowing disposition of the first metal layer 121, the second metallayer 122, the third metal layer 123, and the fourth metal layer 124.Moreover, the thickness of the printed conductive paste layer 120influences the chemical plating effect of the first metal layer 121.

In addition, the resin material used in the conductive paste layer 120is the same with that used in the substrate 11. For example, the resinmaterial used in the conductive paste layer 120 and for the substrate 11is PET. As a result, the chemical plating effect of the first metallayer 121 becomes much better.

The first metal layer 121, which is made of a group VIII metal such asnickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), and platinum (Pt), is chemically plated onthe conductive paste layer 120, and palladium (Pd) is preferably usedfor chemically plating the following second metal layer 122.

The second metal layer 122, which is made of nickel, is preferably usedfor chemically plating on the first metal layer 121. The third metallayer 123, which is made of a group VIII metal, is chemically plated onthe second metal layer 122.

The fourth metal layer 124 is made of a group metal with goodconductivity such as palladium (Pd), gold (Au), and platinum (Pt). It ispreferably to use palladium (Pd) to form the fourth metal layer 124 forthat a best accuracy of measurement could be obtained and that palladium(Pd) is a catalyst to facilitate electrochemical reaction. In this way,the electrons resulted from the electrochemical reaction could smoothlymove within the electrode 12, and which benefits measurement of signalsand evaluation of the corresponding concentration of an unknown sampleto be tested via the electrochemical strip 1.

However, introducing gold (Au) as the material of the fourth metal layer124 can be an alternative choice when considering the high cost ofpalladium (Pd).

Referring to FIG. 3, a manufacturing method of the electrochemical strip1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includesthe following steps:

Step 301: Providing a substrate 11. The material used for the substrate11 can be bio-inert plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glass fiber or phenolic resin.

Step 302: Disposing an electrode layer 12 on the substrate 11, includingthe step of printing a conductive paste layer 120 on the substrate 11.The conductive paste layer 120 is made of a material selected from thegroup consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, andsilver-carbon paste.

Step 303: Etching a region of the conductive paste layer 120, whereinthe substrate 11 with the conductive paste layer 120 is etched by usingplasma to eliminate the debris of the conductive paste layer 120, andthen the surface of the conductive paste layer 120 is activated byacid-washing.

Step 304: Chemically plating a first metal layer 121 on the etchedregion of the conductive paste layer 120, wherein the first metal layer121 is made of a group VIII metal.

Step 305: Chemically plating a second metal layer 122 on the first metallayer 121, wherein the second metal layer 122 is made of nickel (Ni).

Step 306: Chemically plating a third metal layer 123 on the second metallayer 122, wherein the third metal layer 123 is made of a group VIIImetal.

Step 307: Chemically plating a fourth metal layer 124 on the third metallayer 123, wherein the fourth metal layer 124 is made of a materialselected from the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au) andplatinum (Pt).

Step 308: Disposing an insulating layer 13 on the fourth metal layer124.

Step 309: Coating an electrochemically reacting substance 14 on thefourth metal layer 124.

In the first embodiment mentioned above, the whole electrode 12 isplated with the first metal layer 121, the second metal layer 122, thethird metal layer 123, and the fourth metal layer 124. Otherwise, userscan determine the layering structure of the electrode 12 according tothe actual situation.

Referring to FIG. 2A, an electrochemical strip 2 according to a secondembodiment of the invention includes a substrate 21, an electrode 22disposed partly on the substrate 21, and an insulating layer 23 disposedpartly on the electrode 22.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the insulating layer 23 is disposed partly on aregion of the conductive paste layer 220 that excludes the electrode 22.In this embodiment of the present invention, the electrode 22 is partlyformed on the substrate 21 such that the electrochemical strip 2 has areacting region 22 a, an inserting region 22 c, and a conducting region22 b. The reacting region 22 a is a region including only the conductivepaste layer 220 and the electrode 22 and is used for an electrochemicalreaction to be detected on the electrochemical strip 2, the conductingregion 22 b is a region including only the conductive paste layer 220and the insulating layer 23 and is used for communication of anelectrical signal resulted from the electrochemical reaction, and theinserting region 22 c is a region including only the conductive pastelayer 220 and the electrode 22 and is used for connecting with abio-testing apparatus.

The reacting region 22 a is coated with a substance 24 to beelectrochemically reacting with an unknown sample to produce anelectrical signal, and the electrical signal is transmitted andconducted through the conducting region 22 b to the inserting region 22c. The conducting region 22 b is used for communication of an electricalsignal resulted from the electrochemical reaction between the reactingregion 22 a and the inserting region 22 c. The inserting region 22 c isused as the connecting region between the electrochemical strip 2 andthe bio-testing apparatus. Actually, the electrical signal istransmitted from the inserting region 22 c to the bio-testing apparatusto be converted to a corresponding information such as concentration ofthe unknown sample.

Referring to FIG. 2B, in an example of the embodiment, the conductivepaste layer 220 is disposed on the substrate 21 firstly to bedistributed on the reacting region 22 a, the conducting region 22 b, andthe inserting region 22 c. The conducting region 22 b has only theconductive paste layer 220 and the insulating layer 23, while that thereacting region 22 a and the inserting region 22 c each has theconductive paste layer 220, the first metal layer 221, the second metallayer 222, the third metal layer 223, and the fourth metal layer 224.

Accordingly, a region including only the conductive paste layer 220, thefirst metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the third metal layer223, and the fourth metal layer 224 is used as a region for anelectrochemical reaction to be detected on the electrochemical strip,while a region including only the insulating layer and the conductivepaste layer is used as a region for communicating a signal resulted fromthe electrochemical reaction.

The reacting region 22 a is coated with a substance 24 to be reactedwith an unknown sample via electrochemical reaction to produce anelectrical signal to be transmitted to the inserting region 22 c. Hence,the material used in the reacting region 22 a should be a conductivemetal with good conductivity, in order to reduce electrical resistanceand Signal/Noise Ratio of the electrode 22, and to increase sensitivityand specificity of the electrochemical strip 2 during test. Moreover,since the inserting region 22 c needs to transmit an electric signal tothe bio-testing apparatus for calculation, the material used for theinserting region 22 c should be a conductive metal with goodconductivity, in order to have good sensitivity and specificity of theelectrochemical strip 2 during test.

During manufacturing the electrochemical strip 2, the substrate 21 withprinted conductive paste layer 220 is processed by plasma andacid-washing after the printing process of the conductive paste layer220. The conducting region 22 b used for communicating a signal resultedfrom the electrochemical reaction is further sprayed or coated with aninsulating paint layer 2201. Due to the insulating paint layer 2201, theconducting region 22 b never contacts with the reacting solution used inchemically plating during the following manufacturing steps. Apparently,the amount of several metals used in the first metal layer 221, thesecond metal layer 222, the third metal layer 223, and the fourth metallayer 224 is reduced effectively.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a manufacturing method of the electrochemicalstrip according to the first example of the second embodiment of thepresent invention includes the following steps:

Step 401: Providing a substrate 21. The material used for the substrate11 can be bio-inert plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glass fiber or phenolic resin.

Step 402: Disposing an electrode layer 22 on the substrate 21, includingthe step of printing a conductive paste layer 220 on the substrate 21.The conductive paste layer 220 is made of a material selected from thegroup consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, andsilver-carbon paste.

Step 403: Coating an insulating paint layer 2201 and disposing aninsulating layer 23 on a region 22 b of the conductive paste layer 220,wherein the region 22 b consisting of the insulating layer 23 and theconductive paste layer 220 is used for communicating a signal resultedfrom the electrochemical reaction.

Step 404: Etching the conductive paste layer 220, wherein the substrate21 with the conductive paste layer 220 is etched by using plasma toeliminate the debris of the conductive paste layer 220, and then thesurface of the conductive paste layer 220 is activated by acid-washing.

Step 405: Chemically plating a first metal layer 221 on other regions 22a and 22 c other than the region 22 b of the conductive paste layer 220,wherein the first metal layer is made of a group VIII metal.

Step 406: Chemically plating a second metal layer 222 on the first metallayer 221, wherein the second metal layer 222 is made of nickel (Ni).

Step 407: Chemically plating a third metal layer 223 on the second metallayer 222, wherein the third metal layer 223 is made of a group VIIImetal.

Step 408: Chemically plating a fourth metal layer 224 on the third metallayer 223, wherein the fourth metal layer 224 is made of a materialselected from the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au), andplatinum (Pt).

Step 409: Coating an electrochemically reacting substance 24 on thefourth metal layer 224.

With respect to the first example of the second embodiment mentionedabove, the disposition of the layering structure of the electrode 22 canbe modified in order to reduce the manufacturing cost. Accordingly, inan another example of the second embodiment, an electrochemical strip isdeveloped to have one side formed with only a carbon layer on a regionof the conductive paste layer to save the cost of forming the firstmetal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the third metal layer 223,and the fourth metal layer 224.

Referring to FIG. 2C, a carbon layer 25 is printed partly on a region ofthe conductive paste layer 220. In this example, the electrochemicalstrip 2 is formed to have a reacting region 22 a, an inserting region 22c, and a conducting region 22 b, wherein the reacting region 22 a isused for an electrochemical reaction to be detected on theelectrochemical strip 2, the conducting region 22 b is used forcommunication of an electrical signal resulted from the electrochemicalreaction, and the inserting region 22 c is used for connecting with abio-testing apparatus.

Only the reacting region 22 a is formed with the electrode 22 and iscoated with a substance 24 to be electrochemically reacting with anunknown sample to produce an electrical signal, and the electricalsignal is transmitted and conducted through the conducting region 22 bto the inserting region 22 c. The conducting region 22 b is used forcommunication of an electrical signal resulted from the electrochemicalreaction between the reacting region 22 a and the inserting region 22 c.The inserting region 22 c is used as the connecting region between theelectrochemical strip 2 and the bio-testing apparatus. Actually, theelectrical signal is transmitted from the inserting region 22 c to thebio-testing apparatus to be converted to get a corresponding informationsuch as concentration of the unknown sample.

Referring to FIG. 2C, the conductive paste layer 220 is disposed on thesubstrate 21 firstly to be distributed on the reacting region 22 a, theconducting region 22 b and the inserting region 22 c. Secondly, thecarbon layer 25 is printed partly on the conductive paste layer 220 tobe distributed on the conducting region 22 b and the inserting region 22c. Hence, the inserting region 22 c has only the conductive paste layer220 and the carbon layer 25, the conducting region 22 b has theconductive paste layer 220, the carbon layer 25, and the insulatinglayer 23, and the reacting region 22 a has the conductive paste layer220, the first metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the thirdmetal layer 223, and the fourth metal layer 224.

Accordingly, the region including only the conductive paste layer 220,the first metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the third metallayer 223, and the fourth metal layer 224 is used as a region for anelectrochemical reaction to be detected on the electrochemical strip,the region including only the insulating layer 23, the carbon layer 25,and the conductive paste layer 220 is used as a region for communicatinga signal resulted from the electrochemical reaction, and the regionincluding only the carbon layer 25 and the conductive paste layer 220 isused as a region for connecting the electrochemical strip 2 and thebio-testing apparatus.

The reacting region 22 a is coated with a substance 24 to be reactedwith an unknown sample via electrochemical reaction to produce anelectrical signal to be transmitted to the inserting region 22 c. Hence,the material used in the reacting region 22 a should be a conductivemetal with good conductivity, in order to reduce electrical resistanceand Signal/Noise Ratio of the electrode 22, and to increase sensitivityand specificity of the electrochemical strip 2 during test. Moreover,since the inserting region 22 c needs to transmit an electric signal tothe bio-testing apparatus for calculation, the material carbon with goodconductivity is chosen for the inserting region 22 c in order to havegood sensitivity and specificity of the electrochemical strip 2 duringtest. On the other hand, the manufacturing cost of using carbon in placeof using several metals mentioned above is reduced.

During manufacturing the electrochemical strip 2 according to thisexample of the second embodiment of the present invention, chemicallyplating the first metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the thirdmetal layer 223, and the fourth metal layer 224 on the inserting region22 c of the conductive paste layer 220 is replaced with printing thecarbon layer 25. Apparently, the amount of several metals used in thefirst metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the third metal layer223, and the fourth metal layer 224 is reduced more effectively.

Referring to FIG. 4B, a manufacturing method of the electrochemicalstrip according to this example of the second embodiment of the presentinvention includes the following steps:

Step 421: Providing a substrate 21. The material used for the substrate11 can be bio-inert plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glass fiber or phenolic resin.

Step 422: Disposing an electrode layer 22 on the substrate 21, includingthe step of printing a conductive paste layer 220 on the substrate 21.The conductive paste layer 220 is made of a material selected from thegroup consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silver paste, andsilver-carbon paste.

Step 423: Printing a carbon layer 25 on the regions 22 b and 22 c otherthan the region 22 a of the conductive paste layer 220.

Step 424: Disposing an insulating layer 23 on a region 22 b of thecarbon layer 25 such that the region 22 b includes only the insulatinglayer 23, the carbon layer 25, and the conductive paste layer 220 and isused for communicating a signal resulted from the electrochemicalreaction.

Step 425: Etching the conductive paste layer 220, wherein the substrate11 with the conductive paste layer 220 is etched by using plasma toeliminate the debris of the conductive paste layer 220, and then thesurface of the conductive paste layer 220 is activated by acid-washing.

Step 426: Chemically plating a first metal layer 221 on the region 22 aof the conductive paste layer 220, wherein the first metal layer is madeof a group VIII metal.

Step 427: Chemically plating a second metal layer 222 on the first metallayer 221, wherein the second metal layer 222 is made of nickel (Ni).

Step 428: Chemically plating a third metal layer 223 on the second metallayer 222, wherein the third metal layer 223 is made of a group VIIImetal.

Step 429: Chemically plating a fourth metal layer 224 on the third metallayer 223, wherein the fourth metal layer 224 is made of a materialselected from the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au) andplatinum (Pt).

Step 430: Coating an electrochemically reacting substance 24 on thefourth metal layer 224.

Additionally, the substrate 21, the conductive paste layer 220, thefirst metal layer 221, the second metal layer 222, the third metal layer223, and the fourth metal layer 224 said in the first and the secondexamples of the second embodiment, and the materials used therein, arealmost the same as those said in the first embodiment, thus notdescribed repeatedly here.

Furthermore, with respect to the first and second embodiments mentionedabove, the disposition of the layering structure of the electrode 32 canbe modified in order to effectively reduce the manufacturing cost again.Accordingly, in the third embodiment, an electrochemical strip 3 isdeveloped to further replace the insulating layer and a part of theconductive paste layer with the carbon layer 35 and have only one regionformed with the conductive paste layer 320 and the electrode 32 to moreeffectively save the manufacturing cost of the metals as well as reducethe environmental pollution resulted from the aforesaid manufacturingprocess.

Referring to FIG. 5A, an electrochemical strip 3 according to a thirdembodiment of the invention includes a substrate 31, an electrode 32disposed on one part of the substrate 31, and a carbon layer 35 disposedon another part of the substrate 31.

Continually Referring to FIG. 5B, a cross-sectional view taken along C-Cline of FIG. 5A, the carbon layer 35 is printed on two adjacent regionsof the conductive paste layer 320 that excludes the electrode 32 as wellas the electrode 32 is formed on the other region of the conductivepaste layer 320 that excludes the carbon layer 35. Similar to theregional distribution of the substrate described in above-mentionedsecond embodiment, the electrochemical strip 3 has a reacting region 32a, an inserting region 32 c, and a conducting region 32 b. In detail,the reacting region 32 a is a region including the conductive pastelayer 320 and the electrode 32 and is used for an electrochemicalreaction to be detected on the electrochemical strip 3, the conductingregion 32 b is a region including only the conductive paste layer 320and the carbon layer 35 and is used for communication of an electricalsignal resulted from the electrochemical reaction, and the insertingregion 32 c, as same as the conducting region 32 b, is a regionincluding only the conductive paste layer 320 and the carbon layer 35and is used for connecting with a bio-testing apparatus.

In addition, only the reacting region 32 a is formed with the electrode32 and coated with a substance 34 to be electrochemically reacting withan unknown sample to produce an electrical signal, and the electricalsignal is transmitted and conducted through the conducting region 32 bto the inserting region 32 c. The conducting region 32 b is used forcommunication of an electrical signal resulted from the electrochemicalreaction between the reacting region 32 a and the inserting region 32 c.The inserting region 32 c is used as the connecting region between theelectrochemical strip 3 and the bio-testing apparatus. In fact, theelectrical signal is transmitted from the inserting region 32 c to thebio-testing apparatus to be converted to a corresponding informationsuch as concentration of the unknown sample.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the conductive paste layer 320 is disposed on thesubstrate 31 firstly to be distributed only on the reacting region 32 a,the conducting region 32 b and the inserting region 32 c. Secondly, thecarbon layer 35 is printed on the two adjacent regions other than thereacting region 32 a to be distributed on the conducting region 32 b andthe inserting region 32 c of the conductive paste layer 320. Also, thecover shape of the carbon layer 35 should be printed consistent with theconductive paste layer 320 as well as the width of the carbon layer 35is printed slightly wider than that of the conductive paste layer 320for completely covering the conductive paste layer 320. However, thereis no insulating layer disposed on any region of the conductive pastelayer 320 or the carbon layer 35. After that, the electrode 32 is thusonly chemically plated on the reacting region 32 a of the conductivepaste layer 320. Namely, the conducting region 32 b and the insertingregion 32 c each has only the conductive paste layer 320 and the carbonlayer 35, while that the reacting region 32 a has the conductive pastelayer 320, the first metal layer 321, the second metal layer 322, thethird metal layer 323, and the fourth metal layer 324.

Accordingly, a region including only the conductive paste layer 320, thefirst metal layer 321, the second metal layer 322, the third metal layer323, and the fourth metal layer 324 is used as a region for anelectrochemical reaction to be detected on the electrochemical strip,while a region including only the conductive paste layer 320 and thecarbon layer 35 is used as a region for communicating a signal resultedfrom the electrochemical reaction as well as a region for connecting theelectrochemical strip 3 and the bio-testing apparatus.

Similar to the manufacturing process and the material used in the secondembodiment, the printed conductive paste layer 320 of theelectrochemical strip 3 is also processed by plasma and acid-washingafter the printing process of the conductive paste layer 320. Besides,the reacting region 32 a is also coated with a substance 34 to bereacted with an unknown sample via electrochemical reaction to producean electrical signal to be transmitted to the inserting region 32 c.Accordingly, the material used in the reacting region 32 a should be aconductive metal with good conductivity to reduce electrical resistanceand Signal/Noise Ratio of the electrode 32 but increase sensitivity andspecificity of the electrochemical strip 3 during test.

Notably, the printed conductive paste layer 320 is characterized byexcellent effect of screen printing and promoting the subsequentelectrochemical plating of the electrode 32, thus facilitating theproduction of a bio-test strip and saving the manufacturing cost. Inaddition, due to the unable replacement characteristic of the printedcarbon layer 35, the conducting region 22 b and the inserting region 32c will not be replaced by other materials with the reacting solutionused in chemically plating during the following manufacturing steps.Moreover, the carbon layer 35 with good conductivity is printed partlyon the conductive paste layer and displacing the insulating layer, thusproviding good sensitivity and specificity for transmitting an electricsignal to the bio-testing apparatus for calculation during test andfurther reducing the use of above-mentioned metals. Apparently, theamount of several metals used in the first metal layer 321, the secondmetal layer 322, the third metal layer 323, and the fourth metal layer324 is reduced effectively, thereby achieving the purpose of loweringthe manufacturing cost.

Next, referring to FIG. 5C, a manufacturing method of theelectrochemical strip according to the third embodiment of the presentinvention includes the following steps:

Step 501: Providing a substrate 31. The material used for the substrate31 can be bio-inert plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glass fiber or phenolic resin.

Step 502: Disposing a conductive paste layer 320 on the substrate 21,including the step of printing a conductive paste layer 320 on thesubstrate 31. The conductive paste layer 320 is made of a materialselected from the group consisting of copper paste, nickel paste, silverpaste, and silver-carbon paste.

Step 503: Printing a carbon layer 35 on two adjacent regions 32 b and 32c of the conductive paste layer 320, wherein the cover shape of thecarbon layer 35 must be consistent with the conductive paste layer 320and the width of the carbon layer 35 is printed slightly wider than thatof the conductive paste layer 320. Namely, the regions 32 b and 32 cconsisting of the carbon layer 35 and the conductive paste layer 320 areused for communicating a signal resulted from the electrochemicalreaction and connecting with a bio-testing apparatus, respectively.

Step 504: Etching the conductive paste layer 320, wherein the substrate31 with the conductive paste layer 320 is etched by using plasma toeliminate the debris of the conductive paste layer 320, and then thesurface of the conductive paste layer 320 is activated by acid-washing.

Step 505: Chemically plating a first metal layer 321 on the region 32 aother than two adjacent regions 32 b and 32 c of the conductive pastelayer 320, wherein the first metal layer 321 is made of a group VIIImetal.

Step 506: Chemically plating a second metal layer 322 on the first metallayer 321, wherein the second metal layer 322 is made of nickel (Ni).

Step 507: Chemically plating a third metal layer 323 on the second metallayer 322, wherein the third metal layer 323 is made of a group VIIImetal.

Step 508: Chemically plating a fourth metal layer 324 on the third metallayer 323, wherein the fourth metal layer 324 is made of a materialselected from the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au), andplatinum (Pt).

Step 509: Coating an electrochemically reacting substance 34 on thefourth metal layer 324.

Similarly, the substrate 31, the conductive paste layer 320, the firstmetal layer 321, the second metal layer 322, the third metal layer 323,and the fourth metal layer 324 said in the third embodiment, and thematerials used therein, are almost the same as those said in the firstembodiment, thus not described repeatedly here.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the electrochemicalstrip 1 includes a substrate 11, an electrode 12 disposed on thesubstrate 11, and an insulating layer 13 disposed on the electrode 12.The material used for substrate 11 can be bio-inert plastic such aspolyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glassfiber or phenolic resin.

Additionally, the substrate 11 with the conductive paste layer 120 isimmersed in a first electrolytic solution containing the group VIIImetal ions before plating the first metal layer 121, wherein the firstelectrolytic solution not only controls the electrolytic temperature andtime but also adjusts the ion concentration of the group VIII metal andappropriate pH level in the first electrolytic solution.

The immersing process used for chemically plating the first metal layer121 is also used for chemically plating the second metal layer 122, thethird metal layer 123, and the fourth metal layer 124. However, theelectrolytic solution used in chemically plating the first metal layer121 is different from that used in plating the second metal layer 122,the third metal layer 123, and the fourth metal layer 124. For example,the substrate 11 plated with the first metal layer 121 is immersed in asecond electrolytic solution containing nickel (Ni) ions to plate thesecond metal layer 122 on the first metal layer 121.

By the same way, the substrate 11 plated with the first metal layer 121and the second metal layer 122 is immersed in a third electrolyticsolution containing the group VIII metal ions to plate the third metallayer 123 on the second metal layer 122; the substrate 11 plated withthe first metal layer 121, the second metal layer 122, and the thirdmetal layer 123, is immersed in a fourth electrolytic solutioncontaining the group VIII metal ions selected from palladium (Pd) ion,gold (Au) ion, and platinum (Pt) ion to plate the fourth metal fourthlayer 124 on the third metal layer 123.

Moreover, as the role of the first electrolytic solution in chemicallyplating, the second electrolytic solution, the third electrolyticsolution, and the fourth electrolytic solution not only control theelectrolytic temperature and time, but also adjust the ion concentrationof metals and appropriate pH level in the electrolytic solutionmentioned above.

The present invention is disclosed above by preferred embodiments.However, persons skilled in the art should understand that the preferredembodiments are illustrative of the present invention only, but shouldnot be interpreted as restrictive of the scope of the present invention.Persons skilled in the art are able to understand and implement theabove disclosure of the present invention. Hence, all equivalent changesor modifications made to the aforesaid embodiments without departingfrom the spirit embodied in the present invention should fall within thescope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing method of an electrochemicalstrip, comprising steps of: providing a substrate; and disposing anelectrode layer on the substrate, which comprising steps of: printing aconductive paste layer on the substrate; printing a carbon layer on afirst region of the conductive paste layer; etching a second regionexcluding the first region of the conductive paste layer; chemicallyplating a first metal layer on the second region of the conductive pastelayer; chemically plating a second metal layer on the first metal layer;chemically plating a third metal layer on the second metal layer; andchemically plating a fourth metal layer on the third metal layer;wherein the first metal layer is made of a group VIII metal, the secondmetal layer is made of nickel (Ni), the third metal layer is made of agroup VIII metal, and the fourth metal layer is made of a metal selectedfrom the group consisting of palladium (Pd), gold (Au) and platinum(Pt).
 2. The manufacturing method of the electrochemical strip asrecited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing the substrate isproviding a material selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyimide, glass fiber andphenolic resin.
 3. The manufacturing method of the electrochemical stripas recited in claim 1, wherein the step of printing the conductive pastelayer on the substrate is printing a silver paste on the substrate. 4.The manufacturing method of the electrochemical strip as recited inclaim 1, wherein the step of chemically plating the first metal layer onthe conductive paste layer is chemically plating a layer of palladium(Pd) on the conductive paste layer.
 5. The manufacturing method of theelectrochemical strip as recited in claim 1, wherein the step ofchemically plating the third metal layer on the second metal layer ischemically plating a layer of palladium (Pd) on the second metal layer.6. The manufacturing method of the electrochemical strip as recited inclaim 1, wherein the step of chemically plating the fourth metal layeron the third metal layer is chemically plating a layer of gold (Au) onthe third metal layer.
 7. The manufacturing method of theelectrochemical strip as recited in claim 1, wherein the step ofchemically plating the fourth metal layer on the third metal layer ischemically plating a layer of palladium (Pd) on the third metal layer.8. The manufacturing method of the electrochemical strip as recited inclaim 1, further comprising a step of coating an electrochemicallyreacting substance on the fourth metal layer.